Thursday, November 10, 2011

Ex-Israeli President Will Serve 7 Years for Rape; Court Ruling Seen as Triumph for Women's Rights

Israel's Supreme Court yesterday (November 9, 2011) ordered former President Moshe Katsav to spend seven years in prison, after rejecting his appeal of a rape conviction and other sex crimes, according to the Associated Press website.

The unanimous decision of the three-judge panel ended with Katsav becoming the highest-ranking Israeli official ever sentenced to prison. He will start serving his sentence on December 7.

The ruling was seen as a major triumph for women's rights, and for a legal system willing to take on some of Israel's most influential figures.

Katsav, 65, was convicted by a lower court last December of raping a former employee when he was a Cabinet minister, and of sexually harassing two other women during his term as president from 2000 to 2007.

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